Paradox
by PaBurke
Summary: It's all in how you define the terms. Part of the "Beta Daily Prompt" collection.
1. Chapter 1

Paradox

by PaBurke

Distribution: The Nook

Disclaimer: No copyright infringement intended, no money made, no characters created.

Spoilers: Season Two of Justice League

Summary: It's all in how you define the terms.

Word Count: 450

"Tell me about my son."

Shayera Hull was not ordering or pleading. She was entreating. She looked vulnerable.

The Thenagarian should not look vulnerable in front of Batman.

Bruce hated John Stewart in that moment. Shayera would only know about the son from Green Lantern and she should have been asking him If John was not currently telling her the details, than he had decided to stay with Vixen for the time being. It was the ultimate act of stringing a girl along. Batman had seen the footage and had interviewed HawkMan concerning memories of his past life. He knew that the point of contention between 'Past Shayera' and 'Past HawkMan' had been when to start a family.

Shayera wanted children. It was a desire that she hid from everyone, including herself. Now her hope for a son had been dangled in front of her like a carrot.

"Shayera," Bruce whispered her name with compassion.

Then Batman shook his head and said, "He shouldn't have told you. It was bad enough that we knew."

Shayera waited. Hoping. Entreating.

"No," said Batman

"What if it was your son?"

Bruce didn't think he had reacted, but Shayera chuckled with irony. "The other –young- Batman? He's yours?" Batman was not the only person keeping up to date on others' mission reports.

"I don't know that. It's highly unlikely."

"But you do know," Shayera insisted.

Batman huffed with impatience. Inside he remembered the brief look Older Him had for the young Batman. It had been close to the look of approval he had once bestowed on Dick or Tim, but different. Older Him had nodded at this Batman and yes, Bruce knew about his son. He knew not what the young man looked like, but he knew the sound of his voice.

Shayera didn't know that.

In the deepest part of Batman, the voice of his son was treasured. He didn't admit to himself the desire for progeny either.

"He had John's coloring and your wings," Bruce relented. "His Codename was WarHawk, but he was a peacemaker –a mediator- among the others. He was a team player."

Shayera waited and then knew that she would gain no more information. "And your son?"

"Shayera."

"Bruce," she chided. She knew and she wouldn't let Batman deny it.

"He had yet to grow into his frame. He's different from me. He's good at his job."

"Let me guess," Shayera teased. "He's not much of a team player."

Amusement. "No."

"Do you know his mother?"

"No. I don't know his name."

Shayera nodded. They were in similar boats. She touched Batman's shoulder in commiseration and left the control room. Silently, they agreed to never speak these secrets again.


	2. Chapter 2

Full Circle

by PaBurke

Distribution: The Nook

Disclaimer: No copyright infringement intended, no money made, no characters created.

Spoilers: Season Two of Justice League, Season One of Batman Beyond. The short companion story, 'Paradox.'

Summary: It's all in how you define the terms.

Word Count: 300

Batman sat at the BatComputer and read, hungry for every scrap of information. He had been so sure that this future would not happen. He had not been romantically involved for decades and yet here he was. Still, despite his lack of trying.

Terry McGinnis, the teen who had become Batman without his permission.

How had he come to be?

A glint of silver out of the corner of his eye and Batman threw a Baterang at it. Something exploded quietly. Then a woman started chuckling.

It was a familiar chuckle even though Bruce hadn't heard it in decades. A winged woman glided into the light. In one hand, she held the Baterang. In the other, she held popped balloons.

She looked young, but then Thenagarians didn't age nearly as fast as humans. Batman hated that so many of his former teammates could still fight and he was Iold/I.

"Hawkigirl/I," Batman growled.

She wasn't put off by his rudeness. "Still can't sneak up on you." She tossed the Baterang on a nearby table and held up a now-flat balloon so that he could read the lettering.

'It's a Boy!'

Batman huffed and turned his back on her. "Where'd you find something that antiquated?"

"I've been saving it for a special occasion."

Bruce was touched. Such 'new baby' announcement balloons had gone out of style before her son, Rex, had been born. Bruce had paid someone a small fortune to find them and then had sent them to Hawkgirl and Green Lantern anonymously.

Perhaps not as anonymously as he had previously thought, since Shayera was returning the favor.

Shayera walked up to Bruce and the BatComputer, smirking at the contents on the screen. She turned her back on the monitor, leaned against the controls and entreated, "Tell me about your son."

*


End file.
